Time After Time
by alienearache14
Summary: A continuation of the characters' lives set in high school and beyond.
1. Chapter 1

"Lizzie, I dare you to kiss Michael. With tongue." Bridget said with a smirk.

 _Yep, this is why I don't go to these stupid things._ Lizzie thought as the kids sitting around her made cat calls and wolf whistles. _This. Exact. Reason._

As brightly lit as the basement was, she was sure everyone could see her blushing. The Michael in question flashed her a lopsided smile, arching his thick, dark eyebrows. She didn't even know him. Hadn't known his name until a second before. He didn't even go to her school. He was a friend of a friend of a friend. _No way._

Lizzie closed her eyes, wishing she could go back two hours to tell Carrie a more forceful no when she invited her to the party. In fact, she wouldn't have even come if she hadn't dragged Gordo along. Of all the nights for her dad to not insist on family gnome painting or something. Even Miranda had an excuse to not go.

"Umm… no.." Lizzie replied, causing the catcalls and wolf whistles to intensify.

"Ow, ow. Little Lizzie."

"Get it on!"

"Bow-chicka-wow-wow!"

"C'mon guys, no." Lizzie said a little louder. Her face turned redder and redder. _Anywhere but here. Please let me be anywhere but here._

"Guys, give her a break. You can't make her." Gordo said, sensing her discomfort. Lizzie mouthed a silent thank you.

"Fine." Bridget pouted. "How about-"

"No, I think I'm gonna go. I've got a busy day tomorrow." Lizzie lied. She glanced at Gordo before she stood up and made her way towards the stairs. "Thanks for the evening."

 _Well, now I've gone and made myself look like the biggest baby in the world._ She thought as she went up the basement steps. She found the kitchen phone and dialed home. Her mom picked up on the second ring.

"Hey mom. It's me. I'm ready to come home."

"It's only 8:30. Is something wrong, honey? Are you okay? Are people drinking?" Her mom's voice was quickly becoming more frantic. Lizzie could almost imagine her face as her brain raced with every horrible thing that could be going on at a teenage party.

"Woah mom. Take a chill pill. It's nothing like that. I'm just ready to come home."

"Well, if you're sure." She said, not sounding wholly convinced. "I'll be there in 15 minutes."

Lizzie grabbed her jacket from where she left it on the kitchen table. She didn't want to wait in the kitchen. One of Bridget's minions may come up for a snack.

The weather outside had the nip of autumn's impending chill. Her breath escaped her mouth in small white puffs. Lizzie sat on the front steps, huddling into her jacket to stay warm.

"Hey." A voice behind her said.

"Hey, Gordo." Lizzie said, not needing to turn around to know who it was. A pair of headlights flashed as a car turned onto their street and drove past.

"So, that was interesting." Gordo sat down next to her. His shoulder barely touched her. She wished there gap was bigger. It was never good for her when he was this close.

Lizzie kept her eyes straight ahead. Her face turned red again despite the chill. She could be honest. It was Gordo.

"I've never kissed anyone. Not like that, I mean." She said slowly. "I didn't want my first time to be with someone I don't know."

"That's my Lizzie. You've got more morals than anyone I know and you stick to them. I've always admired that." She could hear the smile in Gordo's voice.

 _My Lizzie._

She finally turned to look at him. The porch light lit up half his face. A corona of reflected light surrounded his dark curls. He smelled good. Fresh. Like apples. When they were this close she didn't understand how she wasn't lost in his smell all the time.

"Yeah, well, look at where my morals got me." Lizzie said ruefully. "All those people probably think I'm the biggest dork."

"So?" He gave her one of his x-ray looks. Its intensity made her break his gaze. "Who cares? You're not going to settle. Not many teenagers can say that."

Lizzie snorted. "When you put it like that, you make me sound awesome."

There was a pause.

"You know, I've never kissed anyone like that either." Gordo whispered.

"You haven't? Not even Greta last year?" She unconsciously matched his volume. The intimacy of their space made the air around them feel warm. She didn't want a raised voice to break the spell.

They were close enough for her to see where his eyebrows stuck up above the bridge of his nose. Close enough to see exactly how his lip curved. Her mind flashed back to a rooftop in Italy.

How her body had seemed pulled to him then.

How she had been fighting that pull ever since.

"It never felt right." He shrugged.

"Oh." _Was that all she had to say? C'mon, Lizzie!_ Then, before the rational part of her brain could take control she said, "Does now feel right?"

"Lizzie." His voice was barely a whisper.

The way he said her name, with a kind of tired longing, wrapped around her brain and made everything fuzzy. She leaned towards him..

It was awkward. A lot of bumping of noses. Lips that didn't know quite how to move. Lizzie couldn't figure out how to breathe at the same time. And then it was over. They looked at each other, shy smiles spreading across their faces. Gordo opened his mouth as if he was about to say something, then thought better of it. Instead, he put a hand on her cheek, stroking it once before pulling her back to him.


	2. Chapter 2

The feeling of honey slowly seeped through Lizzie's body as her mouth moved with Gordo's. Her hand moved to his hair.

"You've gotta get it together, girl."

Lizzie jumped as someone bumped her shoulder, pulling her back to the present. Miranda plopped on the stool next to her and gave her a meaningful look.

"What?" Lizzie asked, flustered. Sometimes having a best friend who knows you better than you know yourself had its disadvantages.

She could still feel the memory of Gordo's lips. His hair.

"Oh, c'mon. I know that face. I see who you're staring at. It's creepy and you got to stop." Miranda reached across and took a sip of her soda. Lizzie glanced at Gordo, sitting a couple of tables over with his girlfriend, Cassandra. The Digital Bean was crowded so she doubt Gordo saw her. He was too preoccupied. She watched as Cassandra ran her fingers through his curls and laughed at something he said. A pang as familiar as breathing pierced her heart, but she buried it as quickly as it started.

"Have you guys ever even, you know, talked about any of this?" Miranda asked, now munching Lizzie's chocolate chip muffin.

"You know we haven't." Lizzie replied.

"You're right, I know you haven't. It's still a stupid decision and I don't understand why not."

Lizzie didn't know what to say to that. She didn't really understand why either. Well, she knew her excuses. "We're better as friends." "We don't want to ruin what we have if we break up." "We're too young." She could recite them forwards and backwards. They were nothing but a cover. She knew it. Miranda knew it. And she suspected Gordo knew it. But it was easier this way. She watched Cassandra peck Gordo on the lips as she got up. Lizzie sighed and forced her gaze away before Gordo saw her staring.

 _Maybe easier wasn't the right word._

"Let's get started. I want to look like I've at least tried these problems before asking Gordo to help. You know how he gets." Miranda pulled her math book out of her backpack.

Lizzie laughed. At least Miranda knew how to keep her balanced.


	3. Chapter 3

p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" singer4ever: hey guys. So, you know how my cousin, Carlos is getting married in a couple of weeks? Apparently some of my family can't come up from Mexico and so he said I could invite you all to come! You can bring someone too./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"Summerray15: Sounds like fun! I'm in! Thanks!/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" singer4ever: Are you going to bring someone? Maybe ask Liam?/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"Summerray15: Ugh! I know he's been dropping hints about wanting to get back together, but I'm strongspan style="text-decoration: underline;"not/span/strong interested. I think I'll take this one solo. You've got a lot of other cousins, right ;)/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"Scienceguy: You two have the most interesting conversations/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" singer4ever: you aren't used to it by now?!/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"Sceinceguy: You would think I'd be! I'm in. I'll talk to Cassandra and let you know if she can make it./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" singer4ever: Awesome sauce! /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; line-height: 200%;" align="center"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"**************************/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" "All great journalists aren't afraid to ask the tough questions. You don't become a journalist like Christiana Amanpour or Walter Cronkite by asking what a person's favorite color is. You've got to dig into their soul!"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" Mr. Dig pounded on the desk with his characteristic dramatics. This was such a regular occurrence that nobody in class jumped anymore. Lizzie had ben ecstatic when Mr. Dig finally found a teaching position at the high school. She'd never been very interested in journalism, but his class quickly became her favorite. Next to her, Gordo was scribbling furiously to write every word Mr. Dig said. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" "With that in mind, you're next project is going to be an interesting one." He flashed the class a mischievous smile. "There's nothing worse to a teenager than having to talk honestly about themselves, right?" There were a couple of chuckles. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" "I've paired you with another person in the class. This sheet," he held up a stack of yellow papers, "Has a list of questions that you can use to delve into your partner. I encourage you to add more as you see fit. Your job is to really get to know your partner. Encourage them to talk. It's not always going to be easy.' He paused. The class was staring at him with wide eyes. "This ain't your grandma's interview, people. Be prepared to share parts of yourself that you haven't before. Or to lie convincingly." It was probably a sign of how much the class liked Mr. Dig that nobody yelled out./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" Lizzie glanced at Gordo, eyebrows raised./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" "Is he crazy?" She whispered. "Can he actually make us do this?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" Gordo shrugged. "Apparently." /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" "Parks, Miller. Rojas, Campbell. McGuire, Gordon." Mr. Dig kept reading but Lizzie wasn't paying attention anymore. Her heart began beating a painful rhythm in her chest. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 200%;"emspan style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"Be prepared to share parts of yourself that you haven't before. /span/emspan style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"Lizzie glanced uncertainly at Gordo and saw him hesitantly smiling back. What had Mr. Dig done?/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; line-height: 200%;" align="center"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"**************************/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""That sounds like an interesting project." Miranda said./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""That's because you're crazy. Why did I have to be paired with Gordo." Lizzie said miserably, picking at the wilted lettuce on her tray./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""That's even better! He'll be easier to talk to than somebody you don't really know.' Miranda said bracingly./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""Maybe. Or maybe it'll be worse because there's so much I don't want to say to him." /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""Or maybe this is the opportunity you've been waiting for."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""He's dating someone, Miranda. I'm not going to do anything." Lizzie said forcefully./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""Fine, fine!' Miranda put her hands up. "I give up. What are you wearing to the wedding?"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""I haven't decided yet. You?" Lizzie gave up trying to make the mush on her tray look appetizing and pushed it away. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""I think that red dress I got for the winter formal last year. Tyler's wearing a red tie, so it'll go nicely." /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""You got Tyler to wear a tie? I can't even picture it!" Lizzie laughed. Tyler usually walked around in board shorts and an obscure band's shirt. "You've got him wrapped around your finger!"/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" "Yeah, I do." Miranda grinned. "He's a good one."/span/p 


	4. Chapter 4

Friday night found Lizzie and Gordo staring awkwardly at each other in the McGuire's living room. The yellow piece of paper from Mr. Dig sat on the coffee table in front of them.

Gordo sighed. "You know, this doesn't have to be so hard, Lizzie. Let's just start. We're best friends. Since when is it awkward for us to talk? We're becoming our own worst problem."

 _Why is he always right?_

She nodded slowly.

"Yeah, okay. Umm… I'll start." Lizzie read the first question on the sheet. "What does your favorite color say about you?" She picked up a pen to write down Gordo's answer. "Is your favorite color still green?"

"Yep. And I have no clue what my favorite color says about me!" Gordo shook his head, frustrated. "A favorite color is a favorite color. I don't believe in that crap about deeper meanings that speak to my psyche."

Lizzie laughed.

"What?" Gordo asked.

"I just knew you were going to say that!" Lizzie closed her notebook. This was just like any other conversation with her friend. Nothing to worry about.

"Fine!" The smile playing on Gordo's lips belied his annoyed tone. "How about you? What does your favorite color say about you?"

"Well, I like yellow. I think that may mean I have a sunny disposition. I remember reading somewhere that liking yellow also mean I enjoy creative things…" Her voice trailed away. "I think I see what you mean about that all being mumbo jumbo!" Gordo laughed. She loved making him laugh. His eyes crinkle and his lips part as he smiled.

"What is one goal you want to accomplish during your life?" Gordo asked.

"Jeez, that's a big question!" _How in the world am I supposed to know that? We're still pretty much kids._

"It's Mr. Digs, remember?"

"Well, do you have an answer, Mr. Know-It-All?"

"Yeah. I'd like to travel to all seven continents."

"Really? Even Antarctica?" Lizzie was impressed.

"Yeah! There's so much untapped science down there that I would love to do some sort of study." Gordo's face took on that eager expression he reserved for talking about his passions.

"It's so cool that you know what you want already. You've always known, even when we were kids. I have no clue what I want to do this weekend, let alone five years from now." Lizzie picked at her nails dejectedly.

"Not everybody has their dream job figured out at sixteen. Heck, I could change my mind ten times before it's all said and done." He patted her on the leg, sending tingles up her body.

"What about a personal goal, instead of a work goal?" Gordo asked.

Lizzie thought. "I am working on speaking my mind more."

"Perfect! How's that going?"

"Wonderful. Absolutely life changing." Lizzie said sarcastically, raising her eyebrows at him.

"That bad, huh?" Gordo laughed.

Lizzie sighed. "Miranda has just always made it look so easy. She's always had more guts than me, though."

"What makes you say that?" Gordo fixed her with one of his piercing gazes.

"She's someone who lives without regrets. I mean, if she wants something, she goes for it. No stopping to think or plan. I'm pretty much the exact opposite."

"What good does it do to compare yourself to Miranda? You're such different people." Lizzie shrugged, not knowing what to say. So naturally, Gordo plowed on. "Besides, we're too young to have regrets. We can still make our life to be whatever we want. No decision we've made can have drastically changed the course of our life for the worst."

 _I never know if these discussions with Gordo leave me feeling better or worse._

"Maybe you're right, maybe you're wrong. I don't know. All I know is, if I'd had the guts to actually say what was going through my head half the time, some things would be different."

"Maybe Kate wouldn't have walked all over me for years, I might have asked for help more when I needed it, Matt would probably be too terrified of me to try another prank, and you and I may actually-" She caught herself before she said anymore, her face reddening.

Gordo scooted a little closer on the couch. "You and I may actually what?" His brown eyes still hadn't left hers.

The atmosphere in the room changed. Where moments before it was light and congenial, now there was an electricity, a force she hadn't felt since that night on the porch over a year ago. Her heart beat faster.

 _This is exactly what I was afraid of happening. Me and my big mouth. Be careful what you wish for._

"N-nothing." Lizzie stammered. "I just meant-" But she was saved the necessity of saying any more by her mother arriving in her robe and slippers.

"Hey you two. Are you still working on your project? It's getting pretty late."

The pressure that had been building suddenly broke.

"What time is it?" Gordo looked at his watch. "Shoot! It's 10:30." He started to frantically pack his backpack.

"What's wrong?" Lizzie asked.

"I told Cassandra I would call her at 9:30." At the mention of Cassandra's name, the wall that Lizzie had so precariously sent wobbling with her slip of words straightened.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know, or I would have helped keep track of the time."

"Not your fault, but I got to go. See you Monday. Bye, Mrs. Maguire." He raced out of the house. There was silence as Lizzie straightened her supplies on the coffee table.

"I can't help but feel like I walked in on something happening just now." Her mom said cautiously.

"Nothing was about to happen, mom." Lizzie said, surprised at the disappointment in her voice.

"Did you want something to happen?" Her mom sat in the spot Gordo just vacated. Lizzie focused on laying her pen exactly in the middle of her notebook.

"I don't know."

"Okay, if you don't want to talk I understand." Her mom made to get up.

"It's just that he's dating someone." Lizzie burst out. "He's dating someone and I can't do anything about it. I had my chance. Twice. And I blew it both time."

Her mom took Lizzie's hand and squeezed it. "You know, Lizzie, when you started Freshman year and decided to tell Gordo that you needed to be just friends because you weren't ready for a serious relationship, I was really proud of you."

Lizzie scoffed "Really?"

"Of course! You were advocating for yourself. I'm sure it wasn't easy because heaven knows we all knew you'd liked Gordo for a long time."

"Was it really that obvious?" Lizzie let a small smile stretch her lips.

"To everyone but you for a long time!" Her mom shook her head disbelievingly. "Now, I don't know what's happened since freshman year, and I don't want to know. What I do know is this: you are still young. You've got plenty of time for serious relationships when you're older. If the fear of that is what's been stopping you, then don't. Have fun, take it as slow as your mind is telling you. Gordo's not the kind of person who's going to push you."

"What if we date and then break up? What if we can't stay friends?" Lizzie picked up one of the couch pillows and hugged it close to her body.

Her mom began stroking her blonde hair like when Lizzie was a little girl. Lizzie leaned in to the touch. _There are some things only a mom can do to make something right._

"Honey, you and Gordo have been best friends since me and Mrs. Gordon met at that Gymboree class. You've made it through a lot together. I honestly think you'd figure it out eventually."

Lizzie gave a hollow laugh. "Of course, none of this even matters because he's dating someone."

"Like I said, you all are young. Things change in the blink of an eye. In the meantime, stay focused on school, and your friends, and trying to be nice to your brother."

"Yeah, yeah, I know, mom." _Leave it to mom to use any situation to tell her to not fight as much with Matt._

"I mean it! I remember what's it's like to be your age. Sometimes these boy situations can take over our mind. As your mother it's my job to remind you that there are other things out there that are just as, if not more, important."

"Okay." Lizzie got up and began gathering her pile to take upstairs.

"And Lizzie?" Lizzie turned back around. Her mom was still sitting on the couch. "Don't be so hard on yourself. Remember, it takes two people to be in a relationship."

Lizzie nodded. "Night, mom."

"Goodnight, sweetheart. Thank you for letting me talk. I love you."

"I love you too. And, mom, thanks." And Lizzie meant it.


End file.
